Reloaded Titans seeking girls lacrosse three-peat

JAMES A BOARDMAN - stock.adobe.com

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TERRY MONAHAN

Poway is coming off losing the girls lacrosse San Diego Section Open Division championship match to powerful Torrey Pines in 2017, but first the Titans’ immediate focus will be on adding a third consecutive Palomar League crown.

Graduating a lot of seniors did not leave the cupboard bare. Three Titan seniors and two juniors are back after landing all-league honors last spring.

Rancho Bernardo returns a lot of experience in hopes of taking a few steps forward this year.

Del Norte returns its top two scorers, who combined for 157 goals last season.

Outlook: The Nighthawks won the section’s Division II title in 2013 and will be relying on Evans, who had 99 goals, and Anderson, with 58 goals, to be the sparkplugs for another title push. However, the biggest question mark is on defense. Ahooja, an all-league basketball player, will try to toughen up the defense. “Our goal is to get to the Division I championship game, which would be the furthest we’ve gotten in the playoffs in school history,’’ Pytel said in a text. “The team is very focused on that goal as well as competing for a league championship.’’

Outlook: Krahenbuhl may miss a portion of the season since she’s awaiting the birth of her first child in a few weeks, but her team is loaded for at least a league title run as well as maybe another CIF title push. Richards, who allowed 6.4 goals against last year, Chapman, who scored 31 goals last year, O’Donnell, who had 65 goals and 30 assists and will be off to San Diego State next year, and Flud, who managed five goals and four assists despite playing on the back end, were all first-team all-leaguers last year. Boyle, who had 16 goals and seven assists, and defender Shelby Beisel were second-team all-leaguers. There is still decent balance all over the field despite a handful of newcomers, who missed last year’s 15-5 loss to Torrey Pines in the Open finals. “We’ve competed there the last few years,’’ Krahenbuhl said. “We’re hoping to stay at that level.’’ Poway’s last CIF title came in 2002 and ’03, but have lost the last four title games.

Outlook: James, who scored 25 goals in 2017, Wood, 42 goals and a second-team all-league spot last year, and Elad will lead the offense while Waters and Tyler give the Broncos some steadiness on defense in front of goalie Leilani Miyasaki. Christensen feels his lineup is set with a good mix of returners and a talented group of newcomers. “Can we get to a better level this year?’’ he said. “If we want that, then we have to put in that kind of effort.’’ The Broncos lost their only CIF championship appearance back in 2011, also to Torrey Pines.